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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

After the Thorsby Drugs pharmacy was broken into for the second time, the Thorsby City Council looked into ways to help prevent criminal activity in that area. Thorsby Police Chief Rodney Barnett presented the council with two options – a single camera or Selcom’s Skycop camera box.

Selcom is an electronics company that has worked with cities in Alabama like Selma to use their cameras to minimize criminal activity in their city limits. A Selcom representative gave the council a presentation on their Skycop camera system. The Skycop is a metal box that hangs on a telephone pole that can have multiple cameras and tag readers mounted onto the box.

The system that was presented to the council was for a box with three cameras and two tag readers. The council discussed where the best place for the box would be. The council asked for two more cameras for the box be added in order to see both ways down Highway 31.

The cameras on the Skycop record 24/7 and are in full-color.

Barnett said the biggest reason for this purchase is “to deter criminal activity.”

A motion for $15,000 to be spent for the Skycop system was presented and it was passed unanimously, pending the final details on the location between Barnett and Selcom. A new telephone pole will need to be installed for the system as well. The funds for the system could possibly come out of the American Rescue Plan funding the city received under public safety.

The Thorsby Fire Department received a state grant to get a new defibrillator tool for the department. The $18,000 piece of equipment will help free up more hands during cardiac arrest incidents in Chilton County.

Also, during the meeting, the council:

• Approved a resolution to bid out janitorial services for city hall, Richard H. Wood Memorial Park and Helen Jenkins Chapel.